A Chinese takeaway based in the Wiltshire town of Swindon has been fined more than £14,000 after several customers complained its products had given them food poisoning.

Environmental health officers moved in to investigate the New World Express restaurant after a number of its former customers had complained to the council. A catalogue of food safety breaches had already been uncovered on its last inspection back in 2008, but the most recent checks showed that standards hadn’t improved.

Upon visiting the Regent Circus-based restaurant, inspectors found a build-up of dirt and grease in the kitchen and raw food that was being stored improperly. It was also noted that staff hadn’t been given the right food hygiene training.

As a result of the inspections, the New World Express was shut for a week, and the owner Lee Hoa has been fined £14,000 for breaching food hygiene regulations. He said to the magistrate’s court:

“When I purchased the business the previous owner didn’t invest in the building so I had to make a lot of changes and I invested a lot of money in the building,”

“But being a new business it was a financial strain.

“The food poisoning was because of one of our small suppliers who had supplied us eggs from Spain, which were contaminated with salmonella.”